


dateception

by gullapip



Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-22 07:27:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6070459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gullapip/pseuds/gullapip
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>bobby's mom isn't really big on dealing with the fact that she has a son and not a daughter, and to top it all off he's the last of his cousins to be unattached. as far as his mom knows anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Murf1307](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Murf1307/gifts).



> i can't remember if i planned for this to be multi chapter or not?? idk we'll see. shoutout to inception for bad joke material.

Bobby’s been on the phone for a long time now, pacing a track in the carpet at the end of their bed, where John’s taken up with another unfinished book, sprawled out on half made bedding. It’s been too long for a call with his family, but whatever’s going on, it’s one hell of a conversation. 

 

‘No, Mom,  _ no _ . Because the only Jewish girl here my age is bringing  _ her girlfriend _ home this year. What. What?? Mom, no one’s going to be bothered, really. I’m  _ not _ going through all that, any of it. ...It’s  _ not _ necessary! Why would it be necessary  _ now _ ?’

 

John drops his book far enough to shoot Bobby a ‘need an out?’ glance, but he just shakes his head and waves his hand in between wide gestures, so John lets it go. As much as he can, anyway, with little fractals of ice skimming across the carpet in Bobby’s wake and puffed in the air the more insistently he shouts.

 

‘What? You said you were going to tell them! No! It’s bad enough you wanted me to fake a  _ relationship _ , I’m not going to show up in a  _ skirt _ !  _ No _ ! We just won’t show up at all! Period,  _ period _ . Tell them or we’re  _ not _ coming, I can’t  _ believe _ \- I just - I have to go, Mom. No,  _ no _ , I have to go, we’ll talk later.  _ I have to go _ .’

 

Bobby’s phone goes sailing and skitters across the dresser when he pitches it in the general direction, it survives contact with the floor- thank you, Hank- but Bobby’s already face first into the comforter and groaning incoherently. John’s book gets slighter better treatment, landing on an end table, abandoned so he can roll onto his side and rub a hand over Bobby’s back, incoherent groaning slowly fading into exhausted grumbling and then mumbled sighs. Eventually he emerges from a face full of bedding, drained but with a small, grateful smile, and shifts around to see John face to face, readily returning contact by wrapping his arms around his waist and tucking his face against his collarbone. 

 

‘You alright?’ John asks eventually, quiet and casual with one hand planted on Bobby’s back and the other idling in his hair. 

 

Bobby sighs a hesitantly resigned, ‘Yeah,’ into John’s shirt, he can feel him frowning a little, and gestures while he talks, even though his hands are still hidden behind John and now brushing aimlessly against his back. ‘I- I told my mom I wasn’t showing up pretending to be a girl anymore. I’ve made it  _ so clear _ , she  _ knew _ and didn’t tell anyone in the family anyway, even after she said she would! And just went on about how all my cousins are attached or married and if I was going to come ‘dressed like a boy’ could I at least bring a nice Jewish girl with me?!’

 

‘-Well, you could always pretend to be dating me.’ 

 

It’s a poor time for a joke, but John doesn’t know if there’s much else he can do besides hang on tighter and be there for Bobby, aside from calling his mom up and giving her the third degree. But poor or not, it makes Bobby laugh, in a soft huff against his neck, and that’s all that really matters.

 

‘I already  _ am _ .’

 

‘Yeah, but your mom doesn’t know that.’ John grins against Bobby’s temple when he mutters next to his ear, like they’re secretly conspiring all of a sudden, and Bobby smiles wider. It’s never actually bothered him that Bobby’s family didn’t know about them, they had a hard enough time with Bobby being trans, and if it was a choice between him coming out to them and getting pulled out of school or staying, they’d both choose him staying any day.

 

‘We can’t tell her, John,’ Bobby reminds him, a little dejectedly, and the more John thinks about it the more formed his actual idea gets.

 

‘I’m not saying we do, I’m just saying, if you wanna  _ technically _ do what she’s asking, we could pretend to be dating. Everybody else would think we really are, but she  _ is _ the one who asked for it, so she’d probably assume we were faking just to rile her up a bit. No reason to assume we’re dating for real too.’

 

Bobby’s expression isn’t exactly bad when he pulls back enough to look John in the eye, just surprised and a little contemplative, but John decides to err on the side of caution and not add anything besides a hint of smile. 

 

‘So, if I understand you correctly, you wanna, what, pull a dateception on my family?’

 

He can see a grin tugging at Bobby’s lips too and smiles a little wider, shrugging.

 

‘Do  _ you _ ?’

 

Bobby opens his mouth to reply, but seems to reconsider after a moment and just dissolves into laughter instead, knocking his forehead into John’s, who grins broadly and bumps back.

 

‘You are  _ terrible _ ,’ Bobby points out, beaming.

 

‘True.’

 

‘ _ Devious _ .’

 

‘Also true.’

 

One of Bobby’s hands slides up to curl around the back of John’s neck, resting his forehead against John’s and tugging him closer in the same shift.

 

‘We really shouldn’t.’

 

‘Probably not,’ John concedes, still grinning, and holds him a little tighter.

 

Bobby chuckles softly, glancing down at his grin and then back up to look John in the eyes, quietly serious for a moment.

 

‘I love you.’

 

‘I love you too,’ John reaffirms just as sincerely, letting his grin drop to a softer smile before Bobby leans in and kisses him, hand sneaking up into John’s hair. It’s a few long moments before they pull away, but Bobby’s smiling and content and so is John, and that’s always what matters. Bobby’s face ends up still close enough for John to feel him breathing, and maybe he urges him a little closer, running his hand up and down the back of his neck, but Bobby just smiles sweeter and presses his lips to John’s again, brief but sure. The corner of his mouth quirks up after, biting his lip a little and glancing at John through lidded eyes, then even wider when John raises a questioning eyebrow to match.

 

‘So... d’you maybe wanna, go out with me?’

 

John can’t help but laugh, and so does Bobby, nodding and bumping into Bobby’s nose with his own, which only makes them laugh harder and shift closer before John actually replies, clear against Bobby’s mouth.

 

‘I’d love to.’


	2. Chapter 2

‘What about the pictures? There should be six-’

 

‘Plus one backup, yes, Bobby,’ John calls back from the trunk of the car, that he’s- pretended to, at this point- checked again for Bobby’s meds, the seven signed photographs of Captain America Bobby bribed Logan into getting for his cousins, Bobby’s binders, extra cold weather gear John doesn’t think they actually need, the photos again, the emergency car bag that’s never left the car or been used, and now schoolwork Bobby insisted on bringing, plus the photos for a third time. He yawns and finally texts Rogue back in response to her 5am send off, two hours later.

 

/look out your window/

 

She texts back surprisingly promptly, and he can see her peeking through her curtains with her phone in one hand and a hairbrush in the other. He waves.

 

/ur still here???/

 

/he made me look for those cap pics three times/

 

Rogue doesn’t reply back to him, but he can see her texting furiously, and a moment later Bobby calls back, ‘I am _not_ stalling!’

 

‘I didn’t say anything!’

 

‘Well unless Rogue spontaneously developed another mutation, you’re feeding her information, traitor.’

 

‘How does that make me a traitor, exactly?’ John points out, rolling his eyes fondly, and throws his hands up at Rogue on his way around to the passenger side.

 

/you got me in trouble wtf/

 

/LEAVE/

 

‘You know she thinks I’ve been putting this off forever, she’ll kill me if she finds out I’m not actually telling my parents we’re together,’ Bobby replies as John makes himself comfortable, and finally starts up the car. ‘I don’t know why she’s got so much faith in them.’

 

‘I think it’s less that she’s got faith in them and more she’s got faith in the Professor’s ability to convince them to let you stay. Or just mess with their memories,’ John muses, rolling his head over to look at Bobby without lifting it off the seat. ‘You know I don’t mind, and they’re your parents, you know better than anybody what’ll be the best plan.’

 

‘Yeah,’ he sighs, a little resigned. ‘I guess. There’s just so much that could go wrong this week.’

 

‘We don’t have to pretend to be dating, Bobby, really.’

 

‘No- No, I want to, and not just because I’m pissed at my mom. Nobody else will know we’re faking, and technically we’re not, so, it’s a step in the right direction. Is that- is that okay?’ His voice drops nervously at the end, glancing over at John with a tentatively hopeful twist to his expression.

 

‘Yeah, of course it’s okay,’ John murmurs back, reaching out to squeeze his thigh reassuringly, a little hopeful himself. ‘Whatever you wanna do is fine.’

 

‘Yeah?’

 

‘Yeah, absolutely.’

 

‘Okay,’ he whispers, half to himself, and visibly relaxes, smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. There’s a few long, comfortable moments of silence before Bobby reaches over and feels for John’s hand in his lap, lacing their fingers together and sticking around for a while.

 

\----

 

The snow that had blanketed Bobby’s parents’ neighborhood that morning was now slowly turning to slush, but the roads were still partly icy, which is why Bobby had received two texts from his mother, a call from his father, and then another call from his mother because she didn’t think his father said everything she wanted him to. John had answered the phone for the last one, politely informing her that there was no safe area for Bobby to pull over and answer the phone- a lie- reassured her that they were well under the speed limit- another lie- and that he was very much looking forward to seeing them again- also a lie.

 

‘You do still control ice, right? That didn’t suddenly change while I was in the shower this morning?’

 

Bobby glances away from the road long enough to shoot John a look, who points at his face.

 

‘We really need to get you some glasses, that look would be so much more effective.’

 

‘Uh, no, we tried that once, remember?’ He reminds John, who shoos his hand away when Bobby tries to take his phone back, now using it to send Rogue blocks of emojis. ‘The desk broke!’

 

John barks out a laugh. ‘Oh man, Kitty was so disappointed we didn’t snap it screwing around.’

 

‘You _tackled_ me onto the desk and broke it, that is not exactly a turn on.’

 

‘Hey! I am a virile young adult-’

 

‘ _Virile_??’

 

John gestures to himself. ‘-And in forty years all of this is gonna be old and wrinkly and shit, so enjoy it while you can.’

 

‘Oh no, only forty years,’ Bobby replies, completely flat, before turning up the mockery. ‘You’re absolutely right, call my mother, tell her we’re turning around because we need to have sex immediately before you stop being attractive.’

 

‘Who said I wasn’t gonna be attractive?! I will absolutely age gracefully and you will eat those words, Bobby Drake.’

 

‘I’ll eat _something_ , I’m sure,’ he shoots back, and John can’t stop laughing and soon Bobby can’t either, happily filling up the car with laughter for the rest of the drive.


End file.
